Sub lost!

[Alberto Bassi]

This morning at about 1100 lost sight of my Type VII which was on ballast and sailing on the surface (therefore semi-submerged) of Owen Sound Bay. I assume the cause was failure of the seal since this is my first sub, and a dry hull unit.
SAR started with a snorkel-swim search with no results...tomorrow operations continue with a kayak and more snorkeling!

Alberto.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Nothing worse than an empty boat-stand at the end of the day. Good luck finding it.

M

[Alberto Bassi]

Thanks. I will post later the results of the search.

Alberto.

[trout]

I am sorry it happened and hope it shows up. I have lost a sub and I can only imagine the sickening feeling you have. Be safe while you search.
Peace,
Tom

[greenman407]

Alberto, I have come close several times. I feel your pain. Can you call a Diver to search for it? Considering your investment of time and money Im sure its worth it.

[SSN SonarTech]

Hope you find it. Good Luck

[Kazzer]

Aha! It's at times like this, the advantages of an EASY Sub-driver would come to the surface! (Punny eh!)

Engine off - boat floats.

Unless I'm in a swimming pool, I don't want a static diver - over engineered and a complete PIA!

[trout]

That is my confusion. What confusion you ask? Thank you for asking......The definition of a dynamic diving system is the sub needs forward motion to dive. That makes sense. The logical conclusion is a static diving system needs no forward movement to dive.
I have been called out on this a couple of times on other sites (Bob you were gentle in saying I am confused and you would be correct). My Gato needs forward motion to dive, dynamic you would think, but I have been told no. Why because I have a ballast tank. However, with a flooded tank, I cannot dive with out forward motion.
The ballast tank is used to take a low profile for dynamic diving and bring it to waterline and also lower the sub back to a state that forward motion will glide the sub underwater. It is not a diving ballast tank, but an attitude adjustment tank for dynamic diving. Please help me understand.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

That is my confusion. What confusion you ask? Thank you for asking......The definition of a dynamic diving system is the sub needs forward motion to dive. That makes sense. The logical conclusion is a static diving system needs no forward movement to dive.
I have been called out on this a couple of times on other sites (Bob you were gentle in saying I am confused and you would be correct). My Gato needs forward motion to dive, dynamic you would think, but I have been told no. Why because I have a ballast tank. However, with a flooded tank, I cannot dive with out forward motion.
The ballast tank is used to take a low profile for dynamic diving and bring it to waterline and also lower the sub back to a state that forward motion will glide the sub underwater. It is not a diving ballast tank, but an attitude adjustment tank for dynamic diving. Please help me understand.

You've taken on water (weight) to get more of the submarine beneath the surface -- the submarine displaces more water dead in the water (sits lower). It has not achieve 'neutral' buoyancy (where all portions of the structure displace water), but now only has a small amount of positive buoyancy (reserve buoyancy). From that condition it dives and drives as a dynamic type r/c submarine. It's buoyancy sub-system is a hybrid.

M

[trout]

From that condition it dives and drives as a dynamic type r/c submarine. It's buoyancy sub-system is a hybrid.

M

Thank you. That is what I thought.

[Alberto Bassi]

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to write a word of advice and sympathy all of you guys.

After more than 48 hours of being at the bottom, I found the sub at a depth of approx 2.5m. I had overestimated the drifting pattern and the force of the tide, therefore my search was focused on a wrong area. Two cloudy days didn't help either. The water is cold still, so that snorkeling time on Sunday was not much fun! Yesterday, we had a sunny day with light wind, and the kayak proven to be an awesome searching vessel.


@ Kasser: You are right and I agree upon it. Nevertheless, this is my first project, and even though over-engineered and cumbersome, it has been and excellent test/learning platform. My next Type VII project is already on the shipyard, and its diving unit is one manufactured by Mr. Merriman.


@ Trout: This dry-hull I just retrieved uses the kind of system you and M discuss above. The total displacement (including the conning tower) is approx. 3.0 Kg. On surface, the sub displaces some 2.70 Kg and my ballast tank takes on about 0.25 ml of water putting the sub with a washed deck. Said this, I have to admit that getting it to the correct trim is very complicated; to achieve an constant depth sailing is almost impossible!

Alberto.

PS: Is there a thread were this particular system is discussed? Thanks.

A.

[Alberto Bassi]

Hi all,

I share with you the pic taken from the kayak, right after I found the hull. The white object beside the stern, at port side, is a weight holding a buoy marking the spot while I was getting a set of fins/mask fitted.
Cheers,

Alberto.

[greenman407]

That's Extremely Good News

[Alberto Bassi]

I think this will be a better size.

[redboat219]

This dry-hull I just retrieved uses the kind of system you and M discuss above. The total displacement (including the conning tower) is approx. 3.0 Kg. On surface, the sub displaces some 2.70 Kg and my ballast tank takes on about 0.25 ml of water putting the sub with a washed deck.

Are you using the Revell 1/72 Type VII?

Can you post photos? I'm interested in seeing how you made it a Dry Hull.

BTW 0.25 ml is just 4-5 drops of water.